1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to paper constructions, particularly boxes and cartons, and is more specifically directed to an easel support designed for displaying an article of merchandise or printed matter at a angle to a surface.
2. Prior Art
The prior art discloses a number of easel supports for folding boxes and display cards. The most commonly used form of easel is the wing-type easel. This easel comprises two leg panels foldable into angular position with regard to the display card (or box) to which they are attached.
Wing easels have numerous disadvantages. They are relatively difficult to erect and generally require a stiffer and heavier board than the boards from which the card (or box) is made. For this reason wing easels are generally manufactured separately and are then glued to the back of the display box or panel. In use, wing easels tend to collapse if the box or panel to which they are attached is moved about. Moreover, the legs of the wing easel tend to spread apart under weight, leading to unsteadiness and danger of collapsing.
An improved example of this type of easel support can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,671. In this type a display card has a wing easel made from a single blank. The wing easel has one edge of its two hinged panels hinged to the back of the display card. The other edge of the two hinged panels has a locking flap which engages under a slit in the back of display card to form a triangular pyramid between the display card and the two panels of the wing easel. Moreover, this embodiment permits one panel of the two hinged panels to slide into the same slit of the back as the locking flap in order that the wing easel can be collapsed flat against the back of the display card and subsequently deployed by lifting the wing easel where the two panels hinge together.
Unfortunately, because of the wing design this embodiment is quite asymetrical with numerous notches and flaps. As a result layout of this design on paper is is inefficient and creates large waste.
Another type of easel support is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,507,947; 2,783,013; and 1,860,324. In this form the easel is integral with the box and can also be made from a unitary paper blank. The easel is assembled from the flat, collapsed blank to the assembled position without disturbing the assembled box or its contents. In this construction the easel is composed of two panels which are hinged together to form an acute angular support strut. The remaining end of one panel is permanently hinged to the bottom rear edge of the box and the remaining edge of the other panel carries a tongue or tab which engages in a slit in the back of the box to permanently fix that edge in the middle of the box. Thus, the strut creates an easel support between the bottom rear edge of the box and slit in the back of the box.
Unfortunately, this construction results in relatively narrow tongue, which engages in the slit, bearing the weight of the box. An easel support of this design must also be constructed from relatively sturdy board and is susceptible to fatigue failure, particularly at the score or crease between the tongue and the strut panel. Thus, this construction is unnecessarily expensive or susceptiable to failure. Other examples of the prior art can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,860,324; 1,330,946; 527,694; and British Pat. No. 113,330.
Moreover, all of the described prior art requires manual operation for the deployment of the easel support from a collapsed position. That is, at least one manual operator is necessary to deploy the easel, and often many operations are necessary.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easel support for a display device which can be made from a unitary blank.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for such an easel support for a display device that permits this display device to be closely abutted to each other to make efficient use of the paper from which it is constructed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for such an easel support which can be quickly and easily assembled.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an easel support which is collapsible and occupies relatively little additional room in a collapsed state than the assembled box for which it provides support.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an easel support which impose substantially weight on tongues or tabs used to lock it in its deployed position.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an easel support which is adaptable to automatic deployment from its collapsed position.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for the above objects in a simple, clean, and relatively inexpensive construction.